In the upcoming prequel to John Carpenters THE THING, either Mary Elizabeth Winstead or Eric Christian Olsen is forced to get really tough with a deadly alien creature. Since the conversation began with Sigourney Weavers character, Ripley, it should be easy to figure out who rocks the hardest in this modern day monster movie.

When I sat with both of these fine actors, it was a pleasure to talk as they are clearly happy with the finished film. Since I was wearing my John Carpenters THE THING shirt, there was a little bit of animosity between Eric and me, but it was quickly resolved just because hes such a cool fella. After all, he was a fan too.

One thing that is not terribly surprising is how lovely Ms. Winstead is. She is incredibly wonderful to chat with and a pretty damn talented actress on top of that. Both she and Mr. Olsen create a couple of interesting characters in this prequel that are easy to root for. Trust me when I say this, Mary can certainly offer a little bit of that daring that Linda Hamilton and Sigourney Weaver made work in the first place.